Grape
by Jelly Fur-Coat
Summary: Ninja boyfriends figuring out how things work around them.
1. Cat people

This story is set in the Naruto universe, the Uchiha massacre didn't take place. Sasuke , Naruto and the other rookies are 13, Itachi is 18. It will also contain a somewhat already established NaruSasu.

Also this is my first fic and English is my second language, so without further ado, here's the first chapter.

* * *

I once had this cat, her name was Yomi. She was a good enough cat, a good enough companion if you will. Yomi would sit around the house and keep me company, she didn't prey on mice or birds, neither did she ever leave the house unattended, even though the door was always opened for her-she would just sit and convey all her energy in the oblivious task of being a cat, a little furry statuesque presence placed on a pillow, moving her head or tail once in a while, maliciously blinking while doing so. She also used to greet me when I would come home from the academy.

I'm sitting across from my brother at the dinner table, he still has his anbu gear on. I know he was on a mission, but you could barely tell by the looks of his clothes - they're just a little dusty, no blood, no holes made by sharp utensils, no burnt or chemically altered material, he might as well have arrived from the training grounds just like I did a few moments ago. Right now he's answering our father's questions about his work - my father isn't a prying man, he's just thorough and somewhat mean, so he doesn't pry, he interrogates. Itachi is doing his best at keeping up the conversation, although conversation is a generous term.

"So, Sasuke-kun , how was training today."

I flinch when I hear my name, I hastily look at mom but her eyes are averted to her plate, she laid her guns before I was introduced in the battle, so, for the first time today, I talk with my father.

"It was good, I improved my ninjutsu and my nature transformation techniques keep getting better." My voice is unruly and shaky and it doesn't even sound like my voice at all.

But father just nods, he pickers with his food for a while and then he excuses himself from the table, picks up some papers from somewhere and heads back to the police station.

He only asks me something when Itachi's attitude gets on his nerves. Now, it's not like Itachi is being an impertinent or something, he just can't tell father everything that he would like to know, and rightfully so, considering that his inquiry is not that fatherly. He doesn't mean any harm by it but he is more the chief of the police station then he could ever be a father.

Itachi sighs and his shoulders relax, he smiles at me in that primal uncensored way he does whenever he hushes father back to the station. He won for tonight. He can take a temporary pause from being our father's son. I return the smile, even though I know he has bigger worries than our father's foul mood. And I'm mostly doing it - smiling back, that is – because whenever he's like this it's just like I'm a bacteria an he's a mushroom and we're codependent, and his high spirits need to be reciprocated with my symbiotic share of happiness.

It wasn't always like this, our clan and our village are not in good terms, it strained my brother's relationship with father, but not with me.

I grew up listening to people praising my brother as a prodigy - which he was - and in the last few years this prodigious quality of his was also the only think asked of him to display. He is the string that tethers our clan to the village, he has to be an obedient Uchiha when he's in the hogake's presence, a great leader when he puts that tiger mask on, a perfect son at home and a trustworthy member of the Uchiha clan at home with father. He rarely gets to be my brother, which I know hurts us both.

I remember that when my cat died I couldn't stop crying. I put her in a lavender box, that was my mom's, and I buried Yomi in the backyard. It was a sunny lazy day, but while the funeral arrangements we're made my brother had a serious expression, more to assure me that my feelings were validated than to display regret for my cat. Nevertheless he's faked empathy was appreciated.

Afterwards we went out to get some ice cream and when we got home our father was waiting for us. Itachi skipped a meeting or something and by the time we arrived father was fuming. I don't remember how mad he was, or if he yelled while scolding Itachi, I don't even remember if he scolded him at all. The only think I remember is father telling me something like:

"Stop moping, can't you tell that your brother has more important things to do than look after you? It's just a cat, it did nothing all day and now it's dead, so rest assured, it will keep on doing nothing."

Around then my eyes started to water, I didn't want to cry, not while he scolded me _about_ crying, but I honestly couldn't help it.

"Go to your room."

I went, I cried some more and that was that.

But what made me sad then, what still makes me frown now, is the crude way my father made it seem like my cat failed at being a cat by being a cat. Like the way she chose to express her membership to the feline world didn't suit his standards – his concept of what a cat should be. And for some reason, those last few years, I got the impression that father has similar thoughts towards my brother.

Itachi stands up from the table, the smile is now a smirk – an apparent clue that his big brother mode is now fully on. He raises a brow and looks at me expectantly.

I get up too.

"Where are we going?" I know, but I still ask.

"Training field 23." He answers and we both head out.


	2. Dusk

This chapter is marginally inspired by the movie _Beginners._

I tried to give some context to the story, set the scene a little. Essentially, in this story the Nine-Tails attacked the village when Naruto was born, Kushina died but Minato is the current Hokage. The chunin exam (and other significant missions) took place according to the canon story, except Naruto and Sasuke had a different –better– chemistry (which will be explored in future chapters).

The next chapter will be about Naruto (it will probably feature a 15 years old Naruto)

* * *

Itachi's kunais swing in the air, hitting every target.

The sun was shining down when we left home, we sparred through the dusk, but by the time we took a break the night had already set in. Now, I use the term 'break' loosely, there's an obvious gap between our powers – Itachi is considerably stronger than I am, so our training sessions mostly consist in me trying to keep up with him, an effort that my brother kindly rewards by repeatedly kicking my ass whenever we spar.

It always starts with him showing me a new move, a new technique or a better way to perform a skill I had already mastered. The thing is, he doesn't do it to taunt me or to flaunt, he genuinely likes to help me improve – he's brotherly like that. Even when he beats me he does it, I don't know, in an amicable way. He's always fair and composed, which still never fails to make me feel like shit once the training is over, since I'm a sour vindictive fuck, and it doesn't matter how nice and diplomatic Itachi is about winning – losing is losing, and I hate it. What I lack in skill, I more than make up in being bitter about lacking in skill.

I'm laying down in the grass; I can hear Itachi's kunais slashing through the air, but I don't bother to check if they hit they're marks – I'm certain they did. And anyway, it's not like looking could accomplish anything at this hour. I think it's past midnight. The sky is cloudy – light spring clouds, not the heavy, electrically charged "gonna rain on your parade" type. Once in a while the wind sharply cuts the clouds and the moon shines through – it's fat and convex, it looks kind of like a dumpling.

My mother would always make dumplings for breakfast when I was little. I couldn't have been older than 3 or 4, but I still remember watching her fumble around the kitchen looking for pans or ingredients or whatever. She is a decent cook, she just doesn't enjoy cooking – especially not that early in the morning. She would always mess up the first patch. Always. I don't even know how it was possible to mess it up after going through the process of making a first patch of dumplings for hundreds of times.

Anyway, she subjected herself to this ordeal because around that time the Forth Hokage used to come over for breakfast. He was appointed as Hokage before I was born, but he was on sort of a paternity leave (a benefit I didn't expected to be covered in this line of work) – during that time the Third reigned in his place.

Around the time that I was born the Kyūbi attacked the village. There were many casualties, many pointless deaths, one of which was his wife's. He had to step down from the Hokage's position to take care of his newborn son.

I don't know how the villagers reacted to that – if they supported his decision or if they saw this action as a sign of weakness – but I'd like to imagine that they had at least understood why he would want to be there for his son.

I _obviously_ wasn't aware of all that at the time, even more so, I was only partially aware of what an important man he was (I knew he was the Hokage, but many years had to pass before I realized just how meaningful that title was – _is_.). What I knew about him at the time was that he liked my mom's dumplings and that he had a son, Naruto.

They started coming over when he was reappointed as Hogake. This wasn't a daily affair, but they would have breakfast at our house pretty often. The Forth usually ate his breakfast standing up, maintaining brief small talks with my mom – he was, for the most part, in a rush to get to the office. Naruto always sat next to me. We became real good friends. When we started going to the academy he came by everyday, even if the Hokage rarely came anymore.

I hear steps coming towards me, Itachi must have gotten bored. He lays next to me, and for a while we stare at the sky. The clouds obscure the moon again, there's vague round glow where the moon is hiding.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

The light is dim but I still can see my brother frowning.

"Really anything, questions too. If there is anything you want to ask me, I'm here. "

By 'I'm here ', what he actually means is that I can count on him even when he's 'there'.

"I always thought I would enjoy a conversation with someone who doesn't talk."

At this he sits up and crosses his legs. He intently looks at me – I know I can't escape now, so I just give in.

"So, I can ask you anything?"

"Yes, of course."

"What's that?" I randomly point up.

"Those are clouds."

"What about that?" I point in the forests direction.

"That's a tree. And that round outlandish thing on the tree is called – _by my people_ – a target"

He's a little ticked. It's not like my antics bother him that much ( _if_ they bother him at all), but this conversation is heading nowhere. He has patience, it's just not reserved for useless tasks.

"That, what's that." I point in the opposite direction, there's a thick layer of trees and behind them is Konoha.

" _Well that –_ that's a village. It's filled with people, some of them are friends some of them never heard of one another" he stands up collecting his kunais and the few empty water bottles that were scattered on the grass "and some of them are _brothers_ , just like we are. Some of those brothers are _really_ taking their role seriously, they try to _listen_ when their counterparts are unhappy."

I know where this is heading.

"Unhappy, you know, like when their _friends_ go away in three years long initiatory journeys and leave them behind. Those brothers, they really want to help. But the others, I'm telling you, they just won't take it, they're just too stubborn to admit they need helping. It's like a never ending fight between them."

I get up too.

"Look, _brother_ , I'm fine." I try to act confident, even though that totally sounds like something someone who isn't fine would say.

"Oh, c'mon" his voice softens "You're thinking about him all the time."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. You're not talking about it, so it obviously bothers you. I know you Sasuke." He looks at me like I'm a sick puppy.

"And it's okay. You have every right to be upset about Naruto leaving. But it's not like he won't come back and it's not like you stopped being, _you know_ , friends when he left."

He's trying real hard not to chase me away. If the subject at hand wouldn't be the sudden departure of my kind of boyfriend Itachi's behavior would be almost cute.

"You know what, let's just go home."

He looks unsatisfied, but he doesn't argue. He just nods and follows me.

We walk in silence, the air feels tensed around us. The thing is Itachi can read me like an open book, it's not like I can hide things from him, what bugs him is the lack of confirmation. It took him a year to approach this subject not because he didn't guess my angle, he just wasn't – still isn't – completely sure about his conclusions.

We're on the porch, the lights are out so I figure father didn't bother to wait for us.

"Just for the record" I take a deep breath "I'm gay."

Itachi doesn't look surprised, he offers a small smile and nods. One box crossed in his imaginary assumptions list.

"And is Naruto your… _friend?_ "

I'm a little taken aback at this, it's not like I didn't expect this question. I'm just not that sure of the answer myself.

"You could say it's a work in progress."

He smirks. I blush.

"Good night, foolish little brother." He takes of his sandals and heads to his room.

"Good night, Nii-san." I whisper the last part but I'm sure he heard me anyway.

I don't even bother taking my dirty clothes off, my shirt looks acceptable, a few tears here and there, nothing I can't fix with a needle and a thread, it's definitely re-wearable. My pants weren't that lucky, they're ripped at the knee (both knees) and there are long unruly grass stains on my thighs and hips – I'm guessing they're on my butt too.

 _Two more years._


	3. Cosy Vibes

This chapter is a little fuzzy. Things will make more sense later on.

Also, there's a touch of Christopher Isherwood's novel, _A single man._

Starting with the next chapter things will become more NaruSasu-centric.

 **Warning** : I'm not sure if masturbation falls under the category of _lime,_ but it probably requires a warning anyway. So yeah, this chapter contains a graphic (gay) scene, don't read it if it's not your thing.

 _ **Thanks for reading :)**_

* * *

The Hogake Rock, a grand monument carved into the mountain wall – the faces of past and present Hogakes looking over Konoha. Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen and Minato – raw, handsome figures with strong jaws and grave expression, their oversized portraits serving as an unmistakable feature of what Konoha represents, all of them regarded as heralds of values and morals still rigorously followed by Konoha's shinobi. Again, a grand unique monument but also an obnoxious reminder of the Hogake's power, an everlasting phallic presence that will forever inspire young ninjas.

Konohamaru too, is greatly inspired at the moment. His knees are scraping against the rough texture of his grandfather's nose (or rather against the nose of the statue representing his grandfather) as his hand traces a long steady line above his lip. He makes a hasty semicircular strike before he retracts his hand, proceeding to dip the brush in the red paint. The little metal bucked whines at Konohamaru's rough usage, making barely audible screeching sounds, just like a shy witness trying to denounce a street criminal, its cry for help going blatantly unnoticed by said street criminal.

He's almost done. He feels the sweet sting of pride creeping in, but experience taught him not to bask in the moment for too long. This game requires cautious players. He'll enjoy it, in the spirit of a true artist, when his masterpiece is finished.

The sun shines on his arms, his exhausted muscles relaxing as the final strokes start to dry, but he doesn't feel tired, not anymore at least. He dumps the paintbrush in the bucket and jumps on a nearby building. His chest pridefully puffs as he admires his artwork. Nerdy glasses, red lips and fancy mustaches all accompanied by catchy opinions and complaints. He's not the one to boast, but he must admit, this has to be the greatest makeover the Hogakes ever had.

Naruto's not the one to praise, but he too must admit that Konohamaru raised the bar pretty high.

He arrived in the village around the time Konohamaru started working on his project. Those last few weeks away had been unbearable for Naruto, he could hardly think of anything else besides coming back to Konoha. No matter what he did he couldn't take his mind of off it. He trained less and less every day, until his training sessions were fully replaced by boyhood recollection.

Those feverish stories made little to no sense to Jiraya – the boy was a great fighter but a horrendous storyteller (a fact that bothered the part-time novelist more then he would like to admit). They had no introduction, no detectable plot and even though the main body was there it made no sense what so ever. And as if the content wasn't lacking enough, Naruto would engage in the seemingly impossible task of telling all of those little stories at once. He was talking about ramen, then about that time at the academy, maybe something about his father, Sasuke was a recurring theme too, and then ramen again. Jiraya didn't understand much, he barely got anything from his student's ramblings –but one thing was clear, Naruto missed being home.

He is here now – on top of a tall building, looking at the familiar colorful rooftops. But, for some reason, he can't help but feel slightly unsettled. Naruto has a tingling sensation that can't be simply dismissed, that inexplicable feeling that something has changed. He feels the village pulsing underneath him and its rhythm is not quite the same as three years ago. There's definitely a change, but it's a good one.

Looming over Konoha, he can tell that the city evolved in his absence, he wasn't the only one who grew stronger. A patriotic pride takes over, it's a hot day and the sun is shining, windows all over the village reflect its warm light, and just for a second, Naruto feels like the village is glowing. Powerful and bright, radiant with youth and possibilities – the place he'll never stop calling home.

And here he is now, dirty orange and black tracksuit and messy blonde hair. His sluggish smile mock-mirroring the Hogakes (his future predecessors, as he likes to think of them) severe expressions, now smeared with red paint.

And then, in a second, he jumps down on the street, blending in with the people passing by, he already feels far away from his training abroad – sort of trance takes over, his shoulders relax, his step gets lighter. Reflexes take over as he blissfully heads towards his father's office, following the familiar path his mind memorized long ago.

Like every young man that dabbled in delinquent activities, Naruto is very aware of every internal rule, village regulation or office law. So when Ebisu-san drags in a displeased Konohamaru, Naruta is certain that he's in big trouble.

Before getting to the main offices, there's a waiting room – an unnecessary formality, since the majority of the people coming to the Hogake's quarter would either be insulted to be put on hold or would find it beneath themselves to sit on the lumpish old couches scattered around (hand me downs from when the hospital changed theirs). A lady sits at a small stylish desk, ready to direct newcomers to their respective meeting places – there are around 12 offices on the top floor, one of which belongs to the Hogake, so there is no time for confusion or mix ups. She recognized and welcomed Naruto as soon as he arrived, his father was in a meeting, she told him, but she could go and fetch him. Naruto kindly declines her offer, telling her that there's no rush, he'll just wait here. A pillow puffs in a lazy cloud of dust as he sits down on its couch.

Ebisu doesn't even register Naruto's presence, he's too caught up in his pompous admonition, but Konohamaru, who was anyway looking for an opportunity to escape his captor, runs straight to Naruto.

Konohamaru embraces Naruto in a hushed boyish hug, they obnoxiously smile – partly because Konohamaru's off of any charges at the moment, but mostly because they sincerely missed each other. They both grew taller but their height difference remained the same. It really feels like three years ago.

They start chattering loudly completely ignoring Konohamaru's tutor. Ebisu knows that the fight is lost, but he butts in anyway.

"It's good to have you back, Naruto-kun" his posture straightens as he looks the teenager over – strong build, untidy clothes and a dumb wide grin – not the way you'd expect the Hogake's son to look.

"Yeah, it's good to be home" he wobbles a little, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, just like a slacker-student cornered by a teacher "I just got here, tho. Didn't really have time for the full tour, you know. "

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to re-accommodate yourself, I'm certain." Ebisu knew that he should let Konohamaru go, there's no logical reason in trying to reason with either one of those goofballs, but he's in the perfect mood for a long moralistic scolding, he just has to set the scene a little.

"The forth's son and the third's grandson, you boys are supposed to set an example for the youth of Konoha." he says matter-of-factly, titling his head in an academic way.

"Yeah, sure, I guess you're right" Naruto's smile politely crooks to the left. Konohamaru rolls his eyes.

"As I was telling Konohamaru earlier" he gives Konohamaru a stern look – his act of disapproval didn't go unnoticed. "It's very important for children today to have a role model, to know whose steps they want to follow as they grow into _respectful_ shinobis".

Konohamaru was going through his recurring I-hate-the-Hogakes faze. Naruto used to have similar outbursts – he was more inclined to a fuck-the-system approach, but nevertheless, he knew how his younger friend was feeling. Every adult you ever meet expects you to be a prodigy and don't even get him started on the constant peer pressure at the academy.

"I think it's essential for a young member of our village to have a goal – a _dream_ , if you prefer."

Naruto figures that this is his cue.

"Yeah, I mean, of course. It's good to have a dream, it motivates you to get stronger and …ah" that was all he had "… do other important things"

Ebisu looks at him, nodding for him to go on. Konohamaru sighs audibly, it's bad enough that Episu-sensei got him cornered, Naruto's obliviousness can only prolong his already sealed faith.

"Yes, indeed Naruto-kun" Ebisu takes of his glasses and rubs his temple. "Dreams have those qualities, but I was hoping you could facilitate us with an _example_ – a dream of your own maybe. What did you want to become when you were _younger_?"

He knows what his line is, he's not that dense. He was supposed to shout _"I will become the fifth Hogake, believe it"_ long ago in this conversation. It's not like the statement lost its accuracy, but three years it's a long time to ponder and arrange your thoughts – he had plenty of time to process the way he felt about some things.

"Well, when I was a kid" Naruto takes a step back, his right hand reaches out from his pocked and starts playing with a tangled strand of bond hair." When I was a kid, I think I wanted to be Hashirama."

Konohamaru scoffs at Ebisu's expence.

"Come on, Naruto, don't be silly. I'm being serious here."

The game is over, Ebisu looks ready to through a tantrum but he just grabs Konohamaru's arm and proceeds to drag him to the elders office.

"See you around Nii-chan" his sensei mumbles a goodbye too.

As he waves in Konohamarus direction his father's door opens. Fugaku emarges from the office followed by his son – not the son that ususaly accompanies him, _the other one_ , Naruto's teammate and best friend, Sasuke. He wears white shorts and a black T-shirt. The shorts look just like the ones he used to wear when he was 12, but they can't be the same pair, Naruto tells himself, those obsolete pants would look indecently short on this noticeable taller Sasuke. The hairstyle he sports looks wild and unkempt, just like Naruto remembered it. His figure is leaner and his beautiful features are more defined, even his frown seems more calculated, giving him a spiteful glim in the eye. He looks like he always looked – mean, lanky, cat-like and gorgeous – all of those things, but amplified, a perfected version of the Sasuke Naruto left home.

Minato comes out too. He looks startled by Naruto's presence but doesn't hesitate to embrace his son. Sasuke makes a motion towards his friend but Fugaku stops him. He doesn't have time for a reunion and neither does Sasuke; Minato too yanks Naruto in his office so they can catch up.

Naruto and Sasuke exchange a meaningfull look, a promise that they will see each other as soon as possible.

The rest of the day was uneventfull for Naruto. He went with Jiraya and Minato to a restaurant – not Ichiraku, _something more appropriate for a homecoming_ , as the Forth put it – Kakashi happened to be around, so he was instantly invited to their guys-night-out assembly. After the main course was served the three older man started to get a little tipsy, their speech became loud and messy, very inappropriate for their statuses. Naruto was amused by the turn of events so he sat back and enjoyed the show, chugging a cup of sake from time to time.

Once he got home, he went straight to bed. He was tired, his limps were heavy and his whole body felt stiff. He was dizzy and his head felt suspiciously light, like somebody opened up his skull and filled it with cotton candy – to paint a simpler image, he felt like a rusty roller coaster at an abandon amusement park.

But, as he lies on his back in the dark, there is something that keeps him from falling asleep, a rush of blood surging through his veins, a tingling in his groin. The alcohol itches in him, down there. Lying in the dark, he conjures up Sasuke, makes him take of his T-shirt after a long tensed fight in the fields. He pants heavily as his chest rapidly rises and falls, sweaty and lithe. Naruto leans over and grabs the hem of his shorts pulling them down, he then proceeds to take of his black briefs ... But no, this can't happen ... Naruto tries several times – he just can't make Sasuke take off his underwear in a muddy training field.

The need is still strong and Naruto isn't about to oppose it.

The blood throbs deep down in his groin. The flesh swells up, hard and hot. He pulls his pants and boxers off and throws them on the carpet.

Sasuke must be provided with a better setting. So the field turns into Naruto's room. No trouble in getting him naked here. He and Sasuke are on his bed now. He takes the ravens clothes off, leaving him defenceless. He can feel Sasuke's warm body whimpering beneath him. His lean muscles relax against Naruto's touch as the bed screeches under their weight, the headboard hits the wall in a powerful rushed repetitive motion.

" _Fuck, this feels so good_."

The rush dies down as he reaches for a tissue from atop of the nightstand and wipes his belly, falling asleep only seconds later.


	4. Dog Ears

**Warning** : sweaty teenagers and teen talk.

 _ **Thanks for reading :)**_

* * *

Kakashi and Minato are passing through the outskirts of the village. They had just visited the Memorial Stone. Between Minato's paperwork and Kakashi's highly classified missions there is little to no time remaining for lax activities (like the one they're engaged at the moment). But, this bittersweet ritual of walking along the training grounds after visiting the Memorial has somehow managed to last, earning itself a traditional quality.

Only one ground is occupied – the third training ground, team seven's former habitat.

Two young men are currently testing their skill in taijutsu.

They are absolutely unaware of their newly found audience, isolated in the midst of the fight.

The sun has come out with a sudden fierce heat, and the two are dripping with sweat. They have nothing on their bodies but dark-blue sandals, standard shinobi pants and old T-shirts. Sasuke wears a white one, while Naruto's is orange with a red swirl pattern, kind of like the upper part of a pyjama. Both of their shirts are ridiculously wet, sticking to their chests.

Sasuke is cruel, quick and graceful on his feet. His skin is a creamy marble tone, a rosy hue graces his cheeks. He fights hard and fast, with raw intent, calculating every move – scowling, as he hits his opponent. He is going to win. Naruto already knows this; there is a peculiar gallantry in his helpless tactic.

Whit his strong beefy build he could easily dominate his sleek enemy, but Sasuke's sharingan prevents him from throwing any real punches. He is fighting an undefeatable trait. He should dismiss the fact that this is a taijutsu exercise and just use ninjutsu, forcing the mean skinny brunette to submit to his conventional strength.

But no, on the contrary, the blond boy accepts the rules, lets himself be kicked around, he will rather loose than cheat his way out. The unjust odds don't seem to bother Naruto, he will fight fair till the very end, embracing his obvious defeat.

Minato and Kakashi remain silent, grinning in the boys' direction. Their first impulse was to join in, see for themselves how much they improved. But the fight was too deliberate. It was also ruthless but its ruthlessness was intimate. Naruto's and Sasuke's harshness made them seem close to each other – wild animals connected in an incomprehensible powerful way.

So the seasoned shinobis just watched, knowing that their intervention wouldn't have been welcomed.

After a particularly strong blow, Naruto surrenders, his unmoving limps sprawling lazily on the grass. Sasuke is thankful for this outcome, their fight started to become repetitive and boring. As the boys catch up their breaths, Kakashi and the Forth approach.

They start a flimsy exchange with Sasuke. Naruto basks in the sun like a lizard, grunting monosyllabic responses to whoever tries to drag him in the conversation, making it very apparent that their presence is still hindering. Sasuke too seems to have acknowledged them only out of politeness. His usual demeanour is cruel and slightly evil, so the transition to politeness is not a smooth one; all of his answers are vamped with involuntary ironic venom.

Rather than being insulted by their mistreatment, Minato and Kakashi feel an almost childish joy. Interfering with Naruto's and Sasuke's affairs was a common recurrence that never failed to equally annoy both teenagers. Minato always found their exclusivist friendship sort of cute; whenever they were together anybody else was ruled out as an intruder, even the Hogake – the thought makes him smile.

Kakashi notices Minato's façade crumbling, a content gaze taking over. He looks at Sasuke like the Uchiha is a marshmallow. It's not like Kakashi doesn't have similar fatherly feelings towards Naruto and Sasuke, he just knows better than to act all mushy around them – so he grunts, getting Minato's attention.

"I guess we shall go back to our duties" The Hogake sighs whit a whiny undertone, even though he knows he and Kakashi overstayed their welcome. He would have still liked to ditch his paperwork for the day and just hang around with the boys "I'll see you tonight, Naruto."

Said boy only gives a thumb up, not bothering to get up from his spot on the grass. He'll have time for his father later; he still needs to catch up with Sasuke.

Their sensei and the Forth walk away, heading to the village.

Naruto arrived a few days ago, during which he barely had the chance to hang out whit Sasuke. It's not like he had anything better to do than annoy his gloomy friend, in all fairness there really wasn't that much to do either; it's the middle of the summer, a generally slow time for the shinobi business. And also, Konoha is going through peaceful times, there are no external conflicts and even the scarce internal once are evening themselves out. But the thing is, this benevolent period, while giving slackers like Naruto the perfect alibi to shamelessly waste time, kept Sasuke busy (not Sasuke per se, but his father).

Fugaku was deeply disturbed by the lack of criminal activity. He is a man who enjoys chaos and hazardous activity, mainly because he understands those things; he knows how to deal with them. Investigating gruesome felonies has become a familiar, almost soothing hobby to him, unlike other more family oriented activities – like getting along with his eldest son.

And as if Fugaku's unchanging uneasiness wasn't enough to completely obliterate any chance Sasuke had to lay back and relax, Itachi was acting all high and mighty every time his father was around.

"Wait" Naruto says with a troubled look on his face" Isn't your brother like a super-pacifist, or something. I mean, shouldn't modesty be included in the non-violence package."

"It's not that he's immodest, I don' really know how to explain this" Naruto opens a bag of ramen flavoured chips, silently munching on them as Sasuke collects his thoughts.

"Every time father sulks around, Itachi gets _stronger_ " he sighs "l swear, nothing puts him in a better mood than father's crankiness, it's like he thrives on it – His Zen levels are so cutting-edge right now, he doesn't even walk anymore, he just levitates."

"How is that a bad thing? Isn't Zen-Itachi, like, your favourite Itachi?" Naruto sits up stretching his arms and legs, Sasuke gets up too and the two of them wordlessly decide to go back to the village.

"No, I mean yeah, he's the coolest" he scowls at Naruto for a moment, before brushing off a twig tangled in the blonde's hair. "It's not what he does, but the way he does it – it's like he's all relaxed and composed _in spite_ of fathers foul mood. He just drives father crazy by being a nice normal young man. I honestly have no idea how he does this."

"Man, your brother is gonna be such a cool Hogake." It was a known fact around Konoha that Itachi was going to become the Fifth; most of the villagers agreed whit this decision.

"I mean, c'mon can you imagine crushing your enemies with _niceness?_ "

Sasuke smirks, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, he will probably ditch the Hogake hat and just wear a flower crown."

"I know you're being ironic, but I can totally see that happening" Naruto always liked Sasuke's older brother, and was genuinely excited for him to become Hogake, the only real problem he had with Itachi was that he will probably be a tough act to follow, which in itself wasn't even a problem at all.

"Prepare for the new and improved state of the art Hogake slash personal counsellor. He'll balance the economy and your inner turmoil – Kick your ass and realign your chakras."

"State of the art _means_ new and improved" Sasuke corrects, but smiles while doing so.

The subject chances to new jutsus and techniques, neither was in the mood for an actual display, so they settled for a theoretical evaluation. Sasuke mainly improved the things Naruto was already familiar with – his Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Bukijutsu and his nature transformation– he also learned the basis of some forbidden clan techniques, skills he wasn't completely allowed to learn, divulge and/or use.

Naruto spent a lot of time improving as well. He learned and perfected his father's Rasengan, but utterly failed in performing the Flying Thunder God Technique – he was sincerely bothered by this shortcoming. Sasuke would never admit it, but he was a little _jealous_ of Naruto – just the concept of outdoing the Konoha's Yellow Flash seem unbelievable, and this blond talkative dumbass has actually _improved_ one of his jutsus.

The fact that Naruto kept complaining about not being able to do the Flying Thunder God Technique, (a confession that the Uchiha has dismissed from the beginning as being secondary to the first statement) was starting to get on his nerves.

"So what if I can't do it, it's not like this makes me a failure, or anything; Right?!"

"No, Naruto, you're simply stupendous." Sasuke responds, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, where did that come from? - don't call me stupid." Naruto protests, completely missing the mark.

Sasuke looks startled, like somebody just slapped him in the face.

"What? I haven't, what I meant…" he stops and sighs dramatically "You're such a fucking moron, Naruto."

"Why do you have to be such a bastard sometimes?"

"I'm stating the truth, you duffus. Learn the difference."

"Well then, _you learn_ … ahm…" his tongue tangles in his mouth as he tries to come up whit a comeback.

They glair at each other, it isn't long and the corners of their mouths curve upwards. They muffle a laugh and presume their walk in a comfortable silence. As they reach the village Sasuke says:

"Do you want to have dinner at my place? Mom keeps nagging me to ask you." He adds an excuse, even though they both knew it wasn't needed.

Naruto looks relieved by the offer. His father will come home much later and there was nothing to eat at his house, anyway.

"Yeah, sure; I'll just have to go home and take a shower first."

Sasuke wrinkles his nose in a disgusted manner, like he hasn't noticed by now how dirty and gross they were.

"You're house is in the opposite direction, it will take you too much time." He keeps on glaring at his muddy sweat stained T-shirt " _We_ can just shower at my place"

Naruto's face involuntary heats up – he knew that he was taking it out of context, but he couldn't help it. Three years spend in the company of the perverted sanin were guaranteed to make any teenage boy a little raunchy.

"Fuck, no" Sasuke grimaces "I meant individually, you moron." He sighs "Are you purposely pissing me off, or something?!"

Naruto just smiles and offers a friendly shrug. Sasuke leaves it at that and the two of them go to the Uchiha compound.


	5. Scale

**Warning** : historical inaccuracies and two boys kissing.

 _ **Thanks for reading :)**_

* * *

In the Uchihas' bathroom, Naruto dries his hair with a towel before putting on the clothes Sasuke assigned to him. Black pants and a black shirt, they fit him well enough; he and the original owner have similar width measurements, but the clothes are obviously made for a taller man. Naruto figured they must belong to Itachi. He collects the towels he used and his dirty clothes in a polite pile and goes to Sasuke's room.

Sasuke's room is a simple square box, one of those rooms which was supposed to be an office or storage but ended up becoming a bedroom. There is a thick red carpet on the floor and a great number of nightmarish decorative things all over the room. A gigantic traditional vase, wholly painted in black stands by the door, a teahouse lantern at the window and a set of three swords is pinned above his bed. On the opposite wall are a long mirror and a picture scroll (showing a mad inky creature eating a samurai). In an attempt to make the place cosier, Mikoto littered her son's bed with green and blue cushions, too tiny for any useful purpose, but perfect for throwing at people.

Should he put his jacket on? Naruto looks at himself in the long mirror. _Not too bad._ Black doesn't look as good on him as it would look on an Uchiha, but he can pull it off alright. The overall look is too dark, Naruto decides, so he puts his orange jacket on as he sits on the bed.

Sasuke enters wearing black shorts and a grey sweater. He showered in the other bathroom. His hair is still wet, dripping untraceable water drops on the carpet. The bed makes a protesting sound as the brunette jumps on and lies down.

"Dinner is ready, but mom said we have to wait for Itachi." Sasuke leans back on the pillow galore and crosses his legs in slow deliberate motion, somehow occupying the whole bed. The contrast between his pale legs and the black sheets is striking, giving him a cadaver-like glow.

"I thought the anbu wasn't doing any outside missions those days." Naruto sits in a cramped lotus position on the opposite corner of the bed, like an obedient puppy. His butt is barely on the bed, the Uchiha's feet are right in the middle of it, thus taking up most of the sit-able space; but he knows better than to complain.

"Yeah, me too, but I guess there must be some leftovers from last month. The Daimyo came for a visit and the anbu had to babysit him and his entourage"

The blond tries to maintain his balance and not fall off of the bed; Sasuke gives him a pitiful look but doesn't change his position.

"And anyway, they are the secret services, we're not supposed to know what they're doing."

"Yeah, you're kinda right." He responds lazily, gazing through the window. Sasuke's room overlooks the street, unlike the other bedrooms which have a garden view. Outside two girls play with a small fluffy dog; the sight reminds him of Konohamaru for some reason.

"You know, I bumped into Konohamaru and Ebisu the other day."

"Tragic."

Naruto scowls at his friend.

"You're such a fucking ray of sunshine, you know that?"

Sasuke doesn't find it fit to dignify him with an answer. He just raises a leg and elegantly pushes the blonde down from the bed.

Now sprawled on the carped, the blonde notices a suspicious box under the bed. He makes a swift turn and grabs it. Sasuke doesn't even flinch as Naruto mischievously opens it with a wide grin on his face.

It's filled with scrolls and some nail polishes, Naruto's wickedness deflates.

"You're sick." The Uchiha offers. His tone seems amused.

"Sue me." Naruto gives Sasuke a defeated look "Can I at least paint your nails?" his features brighten as he says this.

"You'll make a mess"

"Is that a yes?"

The brunette Hn's an agreement. Naruto picks up a dark red polish (the most colourful one – the others were all different shades of black). He gets back on the bed and takes Sasuke's left foot on his lap.

"As I was saying, I bumped into Konohamaru the other day." Sasuke rolls his eyes but doesn't comment this time.

"Ebisu was trying to make him behave, I don't know, more like the grandson of a Hokage, or something" he holds his breath for a second before painting a pinky toe "It made me think about becoming one. A Hogake I mean, not a grandson; I mean I already _am_ somebody's gra-"

"I got it, dumbass – go on"

"Yeah, sorry" he smiles and rubs the back of his head in an apologetic manner "It's like, I get Konohamaru, you know. It's shitty to have people constantly expecting you to be the best at everything."

"Yeah, I know, you bitched about that a lot. What does it have to do with becoming Hogake?"

Naruto finished doing Sasuke's nails – the boy doesn't bother to move his legs from Naruto's lap and the blonde doesn't protest.

"I just started noticing that it's kinda the same for the Hogake. Like, Hashirama was the first Hogake and nobody really knew what to expect from this position, so they just rolled with it. And then his brother, Tobirama, was assigned as Hogake and people had a better idea of what that meant so they had higher expectation." He sighs audibly, staring at the swords above Sasuke's head "What I'm trying to say is that the stakes just get higher with every generation."

"You're right, but we knew that already"

"Yeah, but I don't know, the job gets harder and it just loses its spirit."

Sasuke stares at Naruto with a genuinely confused look on his face.

"Okay, now you really have to explain yourself."

"Hashirama was, like, easily the best Hokage. For real, just think about it – we still use his slogan, _the will of fire_ and all that"

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

"Really Naruto, a fucking slogan changed your view on what it means to be Hogake?"

"Okay, okay, forget the slogan. He was the most influential tho. You can't argue with that."

"He was the first kage ever, not necessarily the best one."

"He ended a war"

"The others didn't have a war to end."

"Exactly!"

Naruto's exuberance rises with Sasuke's increasing silence. The brunette shrugs in defeat and throws a friendly pillow in the other's boy direction.

"What was the point of this nonsense, Naruto?"

"No point. I just think that it must have been cool to be the first Hokage." He mumbles.

Their slightly political conversation has thickened the air around them. The atmosphere shifts in the room, the shallow tension surrounding them is replaced by a comfortable silence. Sasuke feels that, even if all this gibberish hasn't brought them any closer to understanding each other, the lack of understanding, the stubbornness to maintain a disagreement, is in itself a kind of intimacy. A fuzzy feeling rises in his chest looking at the blonde – his wide shoulders slouching politely, his constant sheepish smile, his never ending good mood, his bulky stature respectfully cramped at Sasuke's feet. From his heart, he is thankful for this sweet-natured boy's friendship, for the way he makes ordinary moments like this feel beautiful and special.

Naruto sits up and carefully crawls on top of the Uchiha. His arms are positioned on either side of Sasuke's head, strong pillars maintaining a courteous proximity between their bodies. They lock eyes in a magnetic stare.

"I'm going to kiss you." his words are steady and undoubtful; they feel like a hot breeze on Sasuke's skin.

"All right." His own voice doesn't sound as confident, but there's no time do dwell on that.

Naruto leans in and kisses him. The kiss itself is clumsy but not awkward – their plain inexperience is not a problem now, this was, after all, an impulsive move, neither will judge. Sasuke opens his mouth allowing Naruto to deepen the kiss, he also registers the fact that the blonde's position hasn't change – his muscular arms are still supporting his whole weight in what looks like an uncomfortable push up stance, only his head leaned into the kiss. He decides to be merciful, so he slightly parts his legs and puts his hands around the blonde's back, pushing Naruto down on his chest – Sasuke even takes it a step further, hooking a leg over the other boy's hips.

Naruto has no idea what he's doing; he has always imagined that in times like this his instincts would be simply taking over, but it wasn't the case. Sasuke's face feels flushed against his, and his mouth tastes like ginger bread; there's a fire in the pit of his stomach that tells him to keep on kissing the Uchiha, so he deepens the kiss even more. His tongue duels with the other's, but the brunette ends up submitting, allowing Naruto to take the lead completely. Sasuke whimpers, his fists tightly clutched on Naruto's jacket, as he moaned into the kiss.

"Hey, guys!"

Sasuke's older brother is leaning against the doorframe with a smug expression on his face.

The spell breaks instantly. Naruto froze (to be noted that he had the decency to scoot over before becoming motionless). Sasuke allows himself to be startled for a moment and then throws a green pillow in his brother's direction.

"Get out, Itachi!" he yells getting up from the bed.

"Mom said to tell you to come to the kitchen." His obnoxious smile doesn't falter." Come on, you can be a drama queen at the dinner table."

"What took you so long?" Sasuke's asks in a poor attempt to change the subject.

"Whatever it was it didn't take me _long enough_ , obviously"

"You're a bastard." He comments, pushing Itachi out of the way as he exits dramatically.

"I'm crushed." The older Uchiha howls at his brothers back while muffling a laugh.

"You too, Naruto."

Naruto still looks utterly dazed. His face is red as a tomato since he noticed Itachi. He shakily gets up and wordlessly runs to the kitchen. He stares at his feet, completely avoiding Itachi's amused stare.

The rest of the evening is quite undramatic according to conventional standards. Fugaku was at the office, but his presence wasn't missed. They ate salmon, and talked about trivial things. Itachi was kind enough not to bring up the scene he just witnessed, sparing them the embarrassment of explaining it to Mikoto.


End file.
